anthropoid

American  

[an-thruh-poid] / ˈæn θrəˌpɔɪd /

adjective

1. resembling humans.

2. Anthropology, Zoology. belonging or pertaining to the group of primates characterized by a relatively flat face, dry nose, small immobile ears, and forward-facing eyes, comprising New World monkeys, Old World monkeys, and apes, including humans: these primates were formerly classified into their own suborder, Anthropoidea, which has been supplanted by the more inclusive suborder Haplorhini.

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noun

1. anthropoid ape.

anthropoid British  

/ ˈænθrəˌpɔɪd /

adjective

1. resembling man

2. resembling an ape; apelike

3. of or relating to the suborder Anthropoidea

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noun

1. any primate of the suborder Anthropoidea, including monkeys, apes, and man Compare prosimian

Other Word Forms

• anthropoidal adjective
• pseudoanthropoid adjective

Etymology

Origin of anthropoid

First recorded in 1825–35; anthropo-, + -oid ( def. )

Example Sentences

Novelist Samuel Butler’s 1872 science-fiction classic Erewhon, for instance, features concerns about robotic superhuman intelligences that enslave their anthropoid architects, rendering them “affectionate machine-tickling aphids”.

From Nature • Oct. 1, 2019

The other anthropoid branch includes the Old World monkeys and great apes and evolved from Africa and Asia.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

One of the tombs has a burial shaft carved in rock and leads to a chamber where anthropoid lids and four sarcophagi for two women and two men were found.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 16, 2017

It is no good at all, but fun, at moments, to watch… Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter, Roddy McDowall and many others are cast as apes, with wonderful anthropoid mask covering their faces.

From New York Times • Jul. 10, 2014

The aids virus may well have jumped into the human race from African primates, from monkeys and anthropoid apes.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston